When the Department of Planning puts together projects like the Williamsburg Waterfront Redevelopment, the policy is to abdicate all responsibility for transportation to the DOT and MTA. Doctoroff and the DCP do not take a pro-active role in transportation planning as a part of these projects. Additionally, when it comes to alternative transportation, like bicycle use, the DOT and Mayor Bloomberg have stonewalled advocates. It is this abdication, indifference, and hostility that have lead to the growing transportation crisis in Williamsburg.

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The Williamsburg Bridge is a sheet of ice. #bikenyc pic.twitter.com/2hLMDYW4yM — Will Sherman (@WillSherman) December 11, 2014 Courtesy of Will Sherman, here’s what the Williamsburg Bridge bike path — one of the most important bike transportation connections in the city — looked like this morning after the season’s first snowfall. Icy and unbikeable. Sherman says […]

Gothamist dropped a bombshell earlier this week: To repair Sandy-inflicted damage to the L train tubes between Manhattan and Brooklyn, the MTA will have to suspend service through the tunnel for large chunks of time. The repairs can get done fastest if the MTA halts service around the clock, but that would still last one to two […]

During the L shutdown, the MTA plans to run shuttle buses at rush hour connecting Williamsburg to Manhattan. Some sort of transit priority treatment is on the table for Brooklyn streets where buses connect to the bridge, but what DOT has in mind isn't clear.

There are a few big DOT bike projects on community board dockets this week. On Tuesday, the redesign of 111th Street will be up for a vote at CB 4, which DOT has been tiptoeing around for more than two years.

As the L train shutdown approaches and the deadline for a detailed plan of action from DOT and the MTA draws closer, the de Blasio administration is hesitating to take the necessary steps to prioritize buses and high-occupancy vehicles.